How to cook honey

Information for honey in our free cooking ingredients collection.

Honey

In ancient times, this thick, sweet, golden liquid was thought of as a healing agent, a gift from the gods, and a symbol of wealth. Today, this sweetener is still revered, although not as highly, for being a natural source of sweet flavor.

Honey is made by bees. The basic ingredient is nectar gathered from flowers. Enzymes in the bee's saliva convert the nectar into honey. Essentially, this is a simple matter of chemistry, in which the sugar (sucrose) in nectar is converted into fructose and glucose.

As the phrase “busy as a bee” suggests, bees work hard to make honey. The bee must make up to 100,000 round trips from hive to flower and back just to make a quart of honey.

Honey is divided into three basic categories:

• Liquid honey, which is extracted from the comb.
• Chunk-style honey, a liquid honey with pieces of the honeycomb.
• Comb honey, a square or round piece of the honeycomb, with the honey inside.

Within these three categories are hundreds of different types of honey. Honey's color ranges from light to dark. The flavor ranges from mild to strong and depends on the type of flower from which the nectar was taken. In general, the darker the honey, the stronger the flavor.

One tablespoon of honey has about 64 calories. Although sugar has about 48 calories per tablespoon, honey does have some advantages over sugar. Its sweetening power is stronger. And honey, unlike other sweeteners, does contain trace amounts of vitamins and minerals.

If kept in a sealed container and a cool dark place, honey can be kept for a long time. Cooler temperatures, such as in a refrigerator, may cause honey to thicken. Warming it up, however, restores honey's appearance. Its taste is not altered. However, very warm temperatures can change honey's flavor.

Honey and infants

Many parents are unaware that honey should not be served to children younger than 1 year because it may contain a small amount of botulism toxin. The amount of this toxin in honey is not enough to harm adults and children older than 1 year because their immune systems have matured. But in infants, this toxin can be life-threatening.

How to cook honey

Most honey sold in stores is pasteurized, filtered, and blended. Some cooks buy honey directly from an apiary because they believe that these processes alter or dull honey's delicate flavor. Honey also can be used as a substitute for sugar (about 1/2 cup honey for 1 cup of sugar) in many recipes. Keep in mind, however, that honey may cause food to brown more quickly. In addition, you will need to reduce the liquid in the recipe.

Serving suggestions

Honey adds moisture to cakes, breads, and other confections. It is also an excellent topping for most baked goods. One other common use is as a glaze for meats such as ham.

• Syrups
• Chocolate
• Fruits
• Acerolas
• Apples
• Apricots
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Berries
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Cranberries

• Safflower oil
• Soybean oil
• Sunflower oil
• Almond oil
• Grape-seed oil
• Hazelnut oil
• Sesame oil
• Gourmet oils
• Walnut oil
• Essential oils
• Sweeteners
• Sugar

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